Dalton Farm and Szymanski Farms have been granted approval to begin medical marijuana cultivation. Before any marijuana can be planted, the owners would have to obtain licenses from the state and the county, though a process to get licenses has not yet been created. Here's a look at what's proposed on the two pieces of land:

Szymanski Farms

Address: 10437 Yellowstone Road, north of Longmont

Size: 67 acres

Previous use: Organic egg farm

Marijuana cultivation and processing: Permitted in the five existing agricultural buildings that total 41,434 square feet. No dispensary is proposed.

Maximum number of employees: 11

Dalton Farm

Address: 3705 75th St., east of Boulder

Size: 5 acres

Previous use: residential

Marijuana cultivation and processing: Permitted in four greenhouses and two quonset hut barns. Now, only one quonset hut barn exists on the property.

Maximum number of employees: 8

A decision by the Boulder County Land Use Department to approve the transformation of a one-time organic egg farm north of Longmont into a marijuana growing operation will stand, county commissioners decided Tuesday morning.

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The 67-acre Szymanski Farms, 10437 Yellowstone Road, is now one of two plots of agricultural land in rural Boulder County that have been given the green light to grow and process medical marijuana.

On June 8, the county commissioners issued new rules that restrict medical marijuana centers -- which include dispensaries and growing operations -- to the small portion of the unincorporated county that is zoned for commercial, business and industrial uses. The new rules prohibit such operations in areas zoned for agricultural use.

But Szymanski Farms and Dalton Farm -- a five-acre plot of land on 75th Street that sits just south of Walden Ponds -- both applied for permission to cultivate marijuana just days before the new rules went into effect, and therefore, both applications were judged, and ultimately approved, under the old rules.

A third application turned in before the June 8 deadline -- which seeks approval for a pot farm on a five-acre lot at 10452 Isabelle Road west of Erie -- has not yet been ruled on, according to Dale Case, director of the Land Use Department.

Eggs to weed

Cyd and Steve Szymanski have been trying to find a buyer for their farm ever since Cyd Szymanski sold the business she'd built from scratch over 15 years, Nest Fresh Eggs, in 2006.

"After we sold the company, we tried to sell the farm," Steve Szymanski said. "It's been for sale ever since."

The Szymanskis still technically own the land, but that will likely change soon. The land is under contract to be purchased by Scott Mullner, a city councilman in Laramie, Wyo., on the condition that Boulder County approved a change in the allowed use of the property from commercial feed yard to intensive agricultural. The change allows medical marijuana to be grown and processed inside the five existing agricultural buildings on the land.

Mullner, who did not return phone calls Tuesday, would not legally be able to operate the marijuana farm himself because he lives out of the state, but he could potentially sell or lease the farm to a Coloradan interested in marijuana production.

The Land Use Department approved the change in use for Szymanski Farms on Aug. 5, but outraged neighbors asked the county commissioners to "call up" the docket and reconsider the decision. The neighbors said they believe a marijuana farm at that location would decrease home values and increase crime. Other concerns included the proximity of the Mountain States Children's Home and the general incompatibility of a marijuana farm with a residential neighborhood.

Bound by old codes

On Tuesday morning -- when the county commissioners decided not to reconsider the Land Use Department's approval of the proposed pot farm -- they told the crowd of neighbors who attended the meeting that they were sympathetic to their concerns. But all three commissioners said they agreed with the Land Use Department's analysis of the application under the old codes, and therefore, they declined to reconsider the docket.

"Our collective sense of what is appropriate on this property is clear from the decision we made in June when we adopted code amendments that prohibited medical marijuana operations in the agriculturally zoned district," said Commissioner Will Toor. "But it's clearly the case that we cannot apply the (new) code retroactively."

Neighbors vowed Tuesday after the meeting to continue to fight the project. Nancy Peters said she believes the commissioners are wrong to say the pot farm would comply with the old codes -- particularly the rule that demands new development to be "compatible" with the existing neighborhood -- and she said the neighbors will consider legal action.

Smaller farm, less outcry

The county commissioners did not reconsider the Land Use Department's approval of the smaller Dalton Farm property east of Boulder. Unlike Szymanski Farms, only a few neighbors commented on the Dalton Farm application, which was submitted by Broomfield resident John Dalton.

On Aug. 16, the Land Use Department approved Dalton's request to build four 3,000-square-foot greenhouses on his five-acre lot north of Valmont Road. He also won approval to expand an existing, domed 800-square-foot quonset hut barn and add a second 1,760-square-foot barn. In his application, Dalton -- who did not return phone calls Tuesday -- also writes that he plans to add a solar array that could offset his spring, summer and fall electricity use.

The deadline for the commissioners to call up the application was Monday.

Not a done deal

Despite the approvals for the farms, both face a number of hurdles before marijuana can be grown at the locations.

"They certainly cannot begin operations before the state and local licensing takes place," Toor said of the Szymanski Farms operation. "At this point, we do not know what the state licensing will look like, and we have not yet developed the local licensing. I think it's an open question whether this operation will be able to make it through that process."

A state law passed earlier this year requires medical marijuana centers to obtain both state and local licenses. On Tuesday, the commissioners encouraged neighbors to stay involved as the county creates the rules for obtaining the required license.

"As we define our local licensure program, that is a public process," Commissioner Ben Pearlman said. "I invite all of you to weigh in on what the requirements should be."

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